San Diego, CA –– The U-T San Diego has named Jeff Light as its new president and chief operating officer. Light, currently editor and vice president of content at U-T San Diego, will continue as the editor of the newsroom, a position he began in 2010 at the multimedia publishing company.

“Jeff’s hard work, professionalism and dedication has led the industry, and we are confident that he will continue to lead our company in fulfilling our community vision and goals,” U-T San Diego Publisher “Papa” Doug Manchester said. “He has experience in both the news and business sides, and in both print and digital formats. All the operating divisions of the company will now report up through Jeff.”

Light, 54, came to the U-T after serving as vice president for interactive publishing at The Orange County Register. Since his arrival in San Diego, he has overseen various initiatives in the newsroom, both on the print and digital side. Light, who has an MBA degree from University of California Irvine and BA from Brown University, said he will emphasize more multimedia innovation and product development in his expanded role.

“The U-T has made huge strides in the last five years, both in terms of business success and the quality of our products,” said Light. “I have confidence that we have an outstanding team in place to build on the great turnaround story at the U-T.”

Light grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., where his father was editor of the local newspaper. Over the last three decades, he has worked for newspapers and their web sites. He has been an editor, a reporter, a clerk, even a “hopper” – the person who throws the bundles of papers from the delivery trucks in the dead of night. He believes that journalism is one of society’s greatest callings. That is to say, it is one of the best things a person can do with his or her life.

In one of Light’s first initiatives as president and COO, he has promoted U-T San Diego’s A-1 editor, Lora Cicalo, to managing editor. In this capacity, Cicalo will work closely with Light in managing the newsroom and continue to oversee production of the daily print editions.

“Lora will serve as a key partner in all newsroom decisions and the ultimate decision-maker whenever I am absent,” said Light. “Lora is an extraordinary journalist and one of the most admired people in our newsroom. I’m delighted to have her in this role.”